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Socialist Unity Party of New Zealand | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1966 |
| Dissolved | 1990 |
| Split from | Communist Party of New Zealand |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism–Leninism |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Red |
TheSocialist Unity Party of New Zealand[1] was one of the better-knowncommunist parties inNew Zealand. It had a certain amount of influence in thetrade union movement, but never won seats inParliament.
The Socialist Unity Party was founded in 1966 as a splinter group of theCommunist Party. The Communist Party had been bitterly divided by theSino-Soviet Split, a dispute between theSoviet Union underNikita Khrushchev andChina underMao Zedong. The party eventually decided to take China's side. Shortly afterwards, a number of the more prominent supporters of the Soviet position, such asKen Douglas, George Jackson andBill Andersen, established the Socialist Unity Party. The Socialist Unity Party retained ideological and political links to the Soviet Union for most of its existence.[2]
The Socialist Unity Party's association with the Soviet government drew considerable criticism from mainstream politicians. In 1980, the Sovietambassador to New Zealand, Vsevolod Sofinsky, was expelled after allegedly giving $10,000 to a member of the Socialist Unity Party.[3] In 1987, another Soviet diplomat, Sergei Budnik, was ordered to leave the country byPrime MinisterDavid Lange for his alleged involvement with the party.[4][5]
At the same time, the Socialist Unity Party was strongly condemned by other communist groups, which accused it of not following "true" communism and of collaborating with capitalists. The Socialist Unity Party's most well known leader,Ken Douglas, was also criticised by hardliners for the comparatively moderate position he took within the trade union movement.[citation needed]
The Socialist Unity Party, unlike some of the more radical groups, participated inNew Zealand elections, and was not wholly antagonistic to mainstream parties — it was prepared, for example, to occasionally support theLabour Party as "the lesser of two evils". The party put forward candidates in four elections; generally in safeLabour seats in the four main centres; except forFranklin andStratford in the1975 election andWaikato in the1981 election. HoweverBill Andersen stood againstRob Muldoon inTamaki four times.
The Socialist Unity Party has now dissolved, although theSocialist Party of Aotearoa (now also defunct), which split from the Socialist Unity Party in 1990, continued for a number of years afterwards into the early 2010s.
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| Election | candidates | seats won | votes | percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | 5 | 0 | 444 | 0.03 |
| 1975 | 15 | 0 | 408 | 0.03 |
| 1978 | 4 | 0 | 179 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 5 | 0 | 447 | 0.02 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
